Hillary Clinton Visits Home of Eleanor Roosevelt

HYDE PARK, N.Y. —  Hillary Rodham Clinton made a pilgrimage Saturday to the home of her hero, Eleanor Roosevelt, a former first lady who declined a challenge the current one has taken on--a run for the U.S. Senate from New York.

Clinton came to Val-Kill, Roosevelt’s cottage home and a national historic site, to announce that $150,000 has been raised through private donations to help with preservation.

Introducing the first lady to a crowd of more than 400 people, Anna Roosevelt, granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt, said: “The legacy of this place is the legacy of a great woman who simply took stock of who she was and where she was and then tried to be useful. Such a woman is Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

Clinton said the Val-Kill site was “a fitting monument to a woman who was larger than life but always approachable.”

Eleanor Roosevelt turned down a plea from Harold L. Ickes, a top aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to run for the U.S. Senate. Clinton’s top political advisor in her Senate race against U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio is Harold M. Ickes, a son of the Roosevelt advisor.

Meanwhile, Lazio said Saturday he will remain in the House while he runs for Senate. His statement came two days after he missed a congressional vote because he was flying back to New York to campaign.